Iran will not let other nations take Its place in oil market – foreign ministry

April 26/ 11:22

Tehran. An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman blasted the United States for not extending waivers it had given to some countries to get around its sanctions regime against Iran ‒ and Arabic oil exporters who welcomed the decision. The Foreign Ministry said the US and these countries will be “held responsible for any consequences.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Tehran will not allow any other state take its place in the international oil market, according to a report by Fars news agency.

On Monday, an unnamed US government official said President Donald Trump is confident Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will be able to compensate for the loss of Iranian oil, as Washington decided not to extend exemptions from its sanctions to countries that buy oil from Tehran.

The spokesman blasted Riyadh and Abu Dhabi for welcoming US sanctions against Iran, told Sputnik.

Mousavi called US sanctions "illegal, cruel and driven by bullying" and said that Tehran is "hopeful that those buyers of Iranian oil who stood against this unilateral move in their comments, also take action," Reuters reports.

China, Iran's largest oil buyer, has issued a formal complaint to the US over its decision not to extend the waivers for the sanctions regime. However, Beijing has not yet asked for more oil, according to Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih.

After the US re-imposed sanctions against Iran last November, it initially allowed the eight biggest purchasers of Iranian oil to keep buying limited amounts of it from Tehran. These waivers are set to expire on 2 May, and Washington has made the decision not to extend them.

The move comes as another step of Trump's policy of strangling of Iran, despite Tehran's strict adherence to the so-called Iran Nuclear Deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which Washington abandoned arbitrarily in May 2018. Earlier this month, Trump named Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terror organization, marking the first time a foreign government's armed forces received such a designation.